InterCHANGE by IOTA is one of many public artworks installed across the Halifax Regional Municipality.
IOTA Studios, 2025
Temporary public art opportunities
Cogswell District
About the program
The Halifax Regional Municipality and IOTA Studios have launched a temporary art pilot program within the redeveloped Cogswell District titled InterCHANGE.
In early 2024, HRM developed a project called The Cogswell Storytelling Project – a community-led project that outlined how Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian storytelling will be accomplished in the Cogswell District. Both the Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian engagement reports noted that art and art opportunities for community play a critical role in incorporating community history and ownership into the redevelopment of the Cogswell District. InterCHANGE is one of the results of that engagement work and will provide temporary art opportunities throughout the Cogswell District as the sites become accessible to the public over the next two years.
In 2025, HRM partnered with IOTA Studios to produce the temporary outdoor art gallery program for the Cogswell District as a pilot project. The focus of the pilot project is to provide professional public art opportunities prioritized to Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian artists. This is an initial pilot project and not the full scope of the community commemoration program in Cogswell.
Learn more about the project on IOTA Studios project website.
Meet the 2025 artist selections
Letitia Fraser (@letitiasnfraser) is an interdisciplinary artist, whose work centres around her experience as an African Nova Scotian woman, growing up in the province’s Black communities of North Preston and Beechville. Descending from a long line of artists, her creative instincts were nurtured early in life. Through a combination of painting and textiles, she unearths previously untold narratives and pays homage to her community’s history of quilting. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2018 Nova Scotia Talent Trust RBC Emerging Artist Award and was recently longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Art Award. Her work is included in several private and public collections including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Scotiabank, the Canada Council and the Wedge Collection. https://www.letitiafraser.com/
Zeta Paul (@zetapaulart) is a L’nu/Settler illustrator and interdisciplinary artist. Born and raised in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia.) Zeta attended NSCAD University until she decided to put her work into action, she now is focusing on indigenous book illustration, works such as “Muinji Asks Why”, “The Friendship Centre”, and soon to be completed “The Indigenous Kids Book of Canada” and “Borderline.” Zeta aspires to create engaging imagery that is exciting, immersive, and thought provoking, that holds deeper messages about culture and identity.
Carmahn McCalla (@carmahnm.art) is an African Nova Scotian and Jamaican visual artist whose work explores Black identity, nature, and the mystical. Rooted in digital illustration, her multidisciplinary practice spans animation, painting, graphic design, and web design. Largely self-taught with formal studies at Dalhousie University, NSCAD, Athabasca University, and OC Art Studios, Carmahn has exhibited work in festivals, businesses, and public projects. Her illustrations and animations appear in books, theatre, and murals, all reflecting a commitment to celebrating underrepresented voices. https://carmahnart.com
Lou Sheppard (@shep_shape) works in interdisciplinary audio, performance and installation based practices. His work responds to the social and material histories of sites: bodies, and environments. His work questions and disrupts systems of power by deconstructing the language, architectures, genealogies, and taxonomies that hold these systems in place.Lou has created commissioned works for galleries and sites across Canada, including The Banff Centre, at The Art Gallery of York University, The Confederation Centre for the Arts and the Toronto Biennial, as well as internationally, at Kumu Kunstimuuseum in Estonia, in the Antarctic Biennial, and at Titanik Gallery in Finland. Lou has participated in numerous residencies, including Rupert in Lithuania, the International Studio Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, NY., La Cité des Arts in Paris, and as participant and faculty at The Banff Centre. He has been longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Lou is a settler on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq in Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia. https://www.lousheppard.com/
Daramfon Morgan (@DCM ART CREATIONS) is a Nigerian Canadian visual artist, muralist, and digital painter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a Black and African Nova Scotian artist, his work blends contemporary storytelling with vibrant cultural symbolism drawn from African folktales, Caribbean traditions, and local Black histories. Through DCM ART CREATIONS, Morgan has exhibited across Nova Scotia and continues to expand his practice into public art, licensing, and large-scale installations.
His visual language is rooted in bold color palettes, surreal textures, and layered composition. Whether through murals, fine art prints, or digital design, Daramfon uses art to honour generational memory, reclaim erased narratives, and celebrate the resilience of African diasporic communities.
With a background in biology and an MBA in project management, Daramfon merges creative storytelling with professional execution—often collaborating across disciplines, including youth programming, community-led housing, and cultural revitalization. He is deeply passionate about using public space to reflect the strength, beauty, and dignity of communities too often left out of dominant histories. www.dcmartcreations.com